An exploration of access to and use of mobile technologies for learning activities among higher education students

Murphy, Angela and Farley, Helen and Midgley, Warren and Carter, Brad and Lane, Michael and Hafeez-Baig, Abdul
(2013)
An exploration of access to and use of mobile technologies for learning activities among higher education students.
In: University of Southern Queensland Research Colloquia and Showcase, 12-13 June 2013, Springfield.

Abstract

Recent research suggests that mobile technologies offer unique opportunities for students to become more engaged with learning activities beyond the boundaries of the learning management system (Matias & Wolf, 2013). Mobile technologies have the potential to facilitate collaboration and access to information resources anytime and anywhere. As a result, many educational researchers are exploring the potential for mobile technologies to enhance student learning experiences and mobile learning is becoming one of the fastest growing areas within the field of ICTs in education (Pegrum, Oakley & Faulkner, 2013).

Due to the faced paced changes in mobile technologies, education institutions are cautious about investing resources in providing access to the latest devices and technologies. Education institutions are also often hampered by organisational culture and entrenched processes in their potential wide-scale support for innovative technologies (Maringai, Skourlas & Belsis, 2013). Development of environments that support students who wish to use their own devices to suit their needs and contexts has been proposed as a solution to overcome these challenges(Gosper, Malfroy & McKenzie, 2013). This would enable higher education institutions to focus resources on the provision of infrastructure to support ubiquitous access for mobile devices to university systems and infrastructure. Despite the apparent benefits of encouraging the use of mobile devices for learning purposes, few higher education institutions in Australia have implemented systems to enabling mobile access to university networks in a platform independent manner.This study is designed to identify the access students currently have to smart mobile technologies and whether they are currently using these technologies to support their learning at any time and from any location. A subsection of preliminary findings from the survey arepresented and implications are briefly considered. The findings from this pilot study will be used to refine the survey instrument for additional data collection activities.